Quick Wiring Question

[cellardoor]

I'm moving to a new place in a couple of days and the whole house is filled with 2 prong polarized outlets. I took off the cover and there isn't a grounding wire back in the box. I read in a wiring book that it may still be able to be grounded if i stick a circut tester on the hot end of the outlet and the unpainted screw of the cover. Low and behold it lit up which i'm assuming that means it can be grounded.

So my question is do i just replace the 2 prong with a 3 prong and it will be automatically grounded or do i have to do anything special? Also did i do everything right to make sure it would be able to be grounded and am i going about this the proper and easiest way?

[Polar Sparky 1224]

I'm moving to a new place in a couple of days and the whole house is filled with 2 prong polarized outlets. I took off the cover and there isn't a grounding wire back in the box. I read in a wiring book that it may still be able to be grounded if i stick a circuit tester on the hot end of the outlet and the unpainted screw of the cover. Low and behold it lit up which I'm assuming that means it can be grounded.

So my question is do i just replace the 2 prong with a 3 prong and it will be automatically grounded or do i have to do anything special? Also did i do everything right to make sure it would be able to be grounded and am i going about this the proper and easiest way?

That will only work if 1 your house is ran in conduit and 2 if you remove the little squares that are on the 2 screws used to hold the outlet in the box.
But if you don't have conduit and metal boxes and if it were my house I'd replace all your old wire with the new 12 or 14 awg depending on the amperage of your breaker for that circuit.

[cellardoor]

That will only work if 1 your house is ran in conduit and 2 if you remove the little squares that are on the 2 screws used to hold the outlet in the box.
But if you don't have conduit and metal boxes and if it were my house I'd replace all your old wire with the new 12 or 14 awg depending on the amperage of your breaker for that circuit.


It's just a rental for my last year of my undergrad so i don't think i'll be replacing all the wiring and yes the house is ran in conduit. Well at least the wall box i checked is i'll check the rest of them when i get to it. Thanks for the quick answer there polar.

[Velosapien]

If its run in emt conduit the conduit itself acts as the ground wire. As long as a three prong receptacle is used and there is metal to metal contact between the receptacle mount and box it will ground. Do make sure to remove the plastic or cardboard tabs that hold the screw in place for better contact with the box than just the screw. you can also attach a ground wire from the box to the receptacles ground terminal. That way it will also be grounded when unmounted from the box for work. This is ideal.